Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!samsung!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!ira.uka.de!i41s14!prechelt
From: prechelt@i41s14.ira.uka.de (Lutz Prechelt)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.interviews
Subject: idraw enhancements
Keywords: idraw, rubberbanding, box diagrams
Message-ID: <1991Apr17.125617.19077@ira.uka.de>
Date: 17 Apr 91 12:56:17 GMT
Sender: news@ira.uka.de (USENET News System)
Reply-To: prechelt@ira.uka.de (Lutz Prechelt)
Organization: University of Karlsruhe, FRG
Lines: 44

It would be nice to have the following functionality in a drawing program:

1. Have a (user changeable) set of "box styles"  e.g. box, shaded box, 
   diamond, triangle etc. 

2. You can pick one type from this set of box styles from a selection window
   and put it into your drawing as an object A. The object A can then be 
   scaled, stretched etc.

3. You can simply click into A and type text into it.
   This text is automatically centered in A and word-wrapped to
   fit into the boundary of A (or at least into the boundary box of A
   or some box within A that is given statically with the box style).

4. You can connect such objects A and B with lines by just clicking
   on A and B after having selected an appropriate mode.
   These connection lines are automatically directed to point to the center
   of A and B but their visible part ends at the boundary of A and B.

5. If you move A, all the connection lines associated with it, move
   accordingly.

*** Is anybody willing to try to enhance ***
*** idraw to support these functions ?   ***

It should not be TOO difficult, since all the basic functionality for
(3) (without word wrap) and (4) is already present in idraw (align menu 
and structure menu), and (2) is just selecting and copying normal idraw
objects.

The only tool I know of with a similar functionality is the 'picture' 
editor of the IDE-tool software. It is extremely handy for drawing most
kinds of abstract structural diagrams such as entity-relationship or
module-decomposition.
I have long been looking for something similar that produces postscript
and is free, but could not find anything.

Lutz


Lutz Prechelt   (++49/721/608-4317,  FAX: ++49/721/697760)
Institut fuer Programmstrukturen und Datenorganisation
Universitaet Karlsruhe;  D-7500 Karlsruhe 1;  Germany
prechelt@ira.uka.de  or  prechelt!ira.uka.de@relay.csnet